Late Night Readings
by Kayami Naru
Summary: Pavel wakes up to find that Sulu is missing from bed. Worried about his boyfriend, Chekov goes to find him. Where does the young Russian find his love and what is Sulu doing when he's found? (SLASH, Chulu, complete fluff).


It was late, the lights were dim, and the halls were hushed. Most of the ship was sleeping and those who weren't were quietly going about the gamma shift, trying not to disrupt those resting. It is during these late, dark hours of the night that Pavel rolls over, reaching for the warm body on the other side of the bed. His hands flutter and grip around the sheets in a vain effort to come in contact with Hikaru, but he kept coming up with cool air and empty sheets. Lifting his bed ruffled head; Chekov peels his eyes open and blinks to clear the night sand and bleariness from them. Propping himself up onto one elbow, he looks around the room for his boyfriend.

"Wights at seventy-fiwe perzcent, pwease," he mumbled as he shifted to sit up and rubbed his eyes with a small fist. "'Karu, are you here?"

His question was met with silence.

Starting to get worried about his _lyub__i__myj, _Chekov decided to attempt to find him. Rising on feet filled with pins and needles, Chekov rubbed his eyes and yawned loudly. Hopping from one foot to another as he tried to ease the pain in his toes, the man stumbled toward the door. It whooshed open easily. This is where things got tricky. He might know his love very well, but it wasn't often that Sulu disappeared. Pavel had no idea where to look for his boyfriend. Shrugging, the young Russians eyes filled with determination before turning left and heading toward the bridge. He would look where ever he knew Sulu went during the day. The list wasn't terribly long and Pavel was certain he would find his love soon enough.

Pavel had been right. After checking the bridge and finding only Captain Kirk and Commander Spock playing a quiet game of chess, Chekov had tried to mess and the recreation room. Hikaru was in neither place. It was ultimately in the botany lab that Chekov found Hikaru. Immediately after the automatic door swished open, Pavel saw the familiar mop of black hair sitting in his personal back corner of the lab. While Hikaru tended to all the plants in the lab, alongside three other scientists, he kept a sectioned off back corner of the lab for his personal plants and experiments. He was the only one allowed in this section and he was extremely protective of the precious buds that he grew from mere seeds.

Walking toward his boyfriend, Chekov picked up on the quiet murmuring coming from the slumped over body. Upon getting close to him, Pavel realized that the pilot was speaking to the plants. Glancing over his lover's shoulder, a devastatingly soft smile bloomed on his face when he realized that his 'Karu was _reading _to the gentle, fragile, root growing creatures.

Ever since he had known Hikaru, the man had loved paper and ink. He wrote all his notes in old fashion note books with black ink pens that left cute smudges on the sides of his hands from running them over the still wet ink. He owned most of his text books in hard cover, and most of his recreational novels in paperback. Chekov had always teased him playfully when he came upon the man stretched out or curled up with classic novels held gently in his hands.

Sitting down near the pilot quietly, he took a few minutes to listen to the story that Hikaru was telling. It was a thrilling story about wizards, death, finding yourself, and facing your fears. Not a story Pavel would have chosen on his own, but any story read in his love's tired voice as a good one. When the Asian man reached the last page of the chapter, Pavel touched his shoulder gently and let his hand trail along the line of the man's shoulders. A soft smile graced Hikaru's face as he turned toward Pavel.

"Hello, Pasha, what are you doing up so late?"

"I could azk the zame of you, 'Karu. I avoke and you vere gone," Chekov was quiet for a moment as he ran his fingers along the soft hairs at the base of Sulu's hair line, "I got vorried."

Hikaru smiled gently and rested his forehead against Pavel's. Already, the worry and anxiety that Pavel had been feeling had ebbed away and been replaced with affection.

"I'm sorry, Pasha. I couldn't sleep."

"Zo you come to read to your plantz?"

Hikaru blushed lightly and glanced sideways at the abandoned paperback of _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone _and the exotic plants blooming around them. He nodded.

"They grow well when I feed them, they grown better when I talk to them, and they grow best when I read stories to them," a helpless shrug from the Asian pilot, "When I can't sleep, I come here to read to them."

Pavel felt his heart expand at the sheer amount of affection and love he felt for Hikaru Sulu in that moment. He had seen the man dive from the sky and nearly dies in a fire shooting drill. He had watched the calm man steer through the wreckage of ships without breaking a sweat. Sulu was an incredibly strong and capable man. And now, Pavel saw just how soft and gentle he was.

Drawing the Asian man in for a soft kiss, Pavel strained to be near the man, craving the physical contact. Sensing his desire, Sulu drew the light Russian into his lap and wrapped his arms around Pavel's small waist.

When they broke apart, Pavel smiled.

"Maybe vhen you cannot zleep from nov on, you can read to me instead?" he offered shyly as he traced his hands along Sulu's face.

The Asian man flashed a dazzling smile and nodded his forehead against Pavel's.

"I would love to, Pasha."

After that night, every time Sulu couldn't sleep, he would grab a book and read quietly. Pavel would sometimes wake and listen, pretending to be asleep. Sometimes he wouldn't wake up at all. Other times, he would interrupt Sulu reading and kiss him thoroughly, coaxing him into something steamier. Every time though, Sulu would eventually fall asleep, cuddled close to his Pasha and deeply content. And his plants never suffered the absence. If anything, Sulu observed, they were growing better than they ever had.


End file.
